How much should I tell the recruiters

[Notsurewhattotell]

I'm back on the job search after less than six months in my current role. My current job supposed to be a long term one but the workload and expected hours are unrealistically high and the stress is already effecting my health.

I've made the decision to leave and talked to some recruiters. One of them said that if I get an interview with their clients and asked why I'm leaving my current job, I should not tell them the real reason but say that it was a short term contract. I see where they are coming from but this just doesn't sit right with me.

I don't want to look like I'm running away from hard work and occasional extra hours during busy periods, but I can't sustain the current working pattern. The recruiter said that I was trying to justify my decision to leave and that I don't really need to.

Should I take their advice and say my current role was a short term contract? Would they be able to fond out that this is not true?

I feel that I'm over thinking this but I'm so stressed and tried, and don't have too much spare time to apply for new jobs with all the forms and cover letters etc. so I want to increase my chances as much as possible.

Thanks for reading and sorry this is so long.

I wouldn't lie ever. If you get found out, and it happens more often than people think, then you aren't to be trusted.

Assuming you have no record of job-hopping I would simply go with something along the lines of having given it a good six months but you feel that your skills and expertise are not a good match with the job / employer and you are now looking for a better match, which is why you have applied for this role [and now insert all the reasons you'd be good for them!].

That's how I feel too @Jalisco. Although I worry it may look bad and the employers may not like it, it's better to be honest about it, and I have been honest with the recruiters. If they'll arrange an interview for me I'll tell them that I will not lie about this. It may not even come to it, I mean there isn't even a job that they have which is suitable to me at the moment. I just wanted to clarify in my head the right response.
I'm not job hopping, I was at my previous job for 5 years and 2 years at the one before that. I'll use an explanation similar to your response as it summarises it really well. Thanks again.

As someone who recruits a lot, I wouldn't even blink at your situation if you told me the total truth! That's just me though, but I get that people can make a mistake and end up in the wrong job for oh so many reasons. With a steady record behind that it wouldn't bother me. I once had an candidate lie to the panel. We knew she was lying the second she told the lie. It was a stupid lie, because we wouldn't have cared about the truth. But we all cared a lot about the lie. If she'd lie to our faces in an interview, what would she do if we appointed her? She wasn't even considered for appointment.

Maybe I wouldn't directly mention the high workload/stress thing. I would just say that the role wasn't the right fit for you, and that you felt as though the role advertised didn't match what it was in reality. As all of that is true.

Most employers will be understanding of that, especially if you have a stable employment record. It's normal for someone to suddenly find themselves in a job that they just don't fit into when starting somewhere new.

I've left a job after a week before, explained to potential employers that it just wasn't the right fit for me, and that the job wasn't what I was told it would be. All of them were completely understanding, as I'd been at previous jobs for years.

Thank you all for your replies, much appreciated and made it very clear that I was right to question the recruiter's request. Very good suggestions on how to respond honestly but just giving enough information at the same time.